Basses - Page 55

After revamping their standard BTB line earlier this year, Ibanez has now announced an updated version of their BTB Premium basses for 2017. The new 1805E and 1806E BTB Premium basses feature the combination of a rosewood and ash body with a nine-piece wenge/bubinga/maple neck-through design. The neck is also reinforced with graphite rods. They’ve also changed the pickups to...

To keep up with the new CITES regulations on rosewood, Sandberg Guitars has turned to a new fingerboard option: steamed oak. The innovation was first shown at NAMM this year as a prototype. “Oak is a very eco-friendly and sustainable wood with very desirable sonic qualities and dynamic response,” the company wrote in a press release. “Sandberg has adopted a...

Cort has expanded their GB7 series of guitars and basses with the GB74JJ, a jazz-style bass that they describe as integrating both modern and classic aspects. That blend is centered in its pair of VTB-ST pickups that are fitted into a swamp ash body. “Crafted with winding materials that maximize high and low frequencies, the refined design of these pickups...

Fender has introduced the Classic Design series that they say is aimed at the company’s acoustic tone and aesthetic at an affordable price. The lineup includes the CB-60SCE, an acoustic bass guitar featuring a slim-taper neck profile and rolled fingerboard edges for playability. Its concert-bass body is built with a solid spruce top with mahogany for the back and sides....

Ibanez announced the expansion of their Portamento Fretless bass series with a six-string version. The SRF706 will retain the features of its four and five-string predecessors while adding a high C string. The bass is built with neck-through construction featuring a five-piece maple and bubinga neck, mahogany body wings, and a rosewood fingerboard. Ibanez fits it with a pair of...

At the beginning of the year, new CITES regulations went into effect for all species of rosewood. The wood is very common in basses and other stringed instruments as a fretboard material. To address the issue, Fender released a statement on how they are changing their instruments to deal with the new regulation. “Fender is committed to the continued use...

After introducing the Kiloton bass late last year, G&L Guitars has now unveiled a five-string version of the model. The Kiloton 5 adds a low B-string while retaining features of the four-string. Its body comes in alder or swamp ash and is based on the company’s SB-2, which was designed by Leo Fender. The neck is built with hard rock...

Jack Casady and Epiphone are celebrating twenty years since the introduction of the bass legend’s signature bass. Launched in 1997, the bass will be offered this year in a special limited edition outfit defined by a flame maple veneer top and a Wine Red finish. It will also come with a custom gig bag, deluxe leather strap, and a certificate...

Luthier Shawn Shannon was showing off his production bass prototypes at the NAMM Show this year, and now the first model is available for order. The SVS Designs Adapt is a four-string bass designed to provide tonal clarity in standard, drop, and sub tuning that the company says is normally exclusive to five and six-string basses. Hand-built in the U.S.,...

ESP expanded their Thinline acoustic bass series this year with the TL-4Z Fretless and the TL-5SM. The models are four- and five-string basses, respectively, that feature modern aesthetic with exotic tops. The TL-4Z Fretless carries the same features of the TL-4Z in a fretless format. Its body is built with chambered mahogany and topped by zebrawood in a natural gloss...

Anthrax’s Frank Bello teamed up with ESP again this year to create a new signature bass, resulting in the custom shop Frank Bello J-4 and the LTD Series FB-J4. Each bass is a take on a classic P/J design in a sleek black color scheme with red accents. The custom shop version is crafted one at a time in Japan....

Italia Guitars unveiled a handful of new instruments at Musikmesse this year including the Maranello Cavo Bass. The short-scale, semi-hollow four-stringer is described as “packing an enormous punch in a very comfortable package.” Available in Racing Green and Translucent Cocoa colors, the retro-styled bass is built with a chambered mahogany body complete with the company’s signature f-hole design, a set...